WE ARE CTA

325,000 MEMBERS STRONG

January 15, 2009

Education Coalition Responds to Governor's State of the State

Contact: Robin Swanson (916) 204-6890

California’s schools are in crisis. With a new national report showing our state’s public schools dropping to 47th in the nation in per-pupil spending and the Governor proposing more than $10.8 billion in additional cuts to schools over the next 18 months, in addition to billions in mid-year cuts already sustained, California’s students are being robbed of the quality education they deserve.

The consequences of budget cuts are directly impacting students in the classroom: school districts across the state are threatening to lay off tens of thousands of teachers, in addition to the more than 5,000 teachers who have already lost their jobs. In addition, nearly 9,000 bus drivers, custodians, food service workers and other school employees have already been laid off, with more to come.

The impact is unprecedented, as California’s schools face year-to-year cuts not seen since the Great Depression.

These cuts mean class sizes will swell, arts, music and sports programs will be eliminated, and there will be fewer options for students to get to and from school. California already has some of the most overcrowded classrooms and the greatest shortages of librarians, counselors and other critical support staff in the nation. Our elected leaders need to be reminded of what hard-working Californians already know: devastating cuts to public education are undermining our state's future.

That’s why the Education Coalition, including parents, teachers, school board members, school employees, administrators and other educators across California support raising the revenues needed to ensure that every student has an opportunity to learn.

Without new revenues, the cumulative cuts to K-14 education over 2 years will reach an astronomical $14 billion, perpetually shortchanging an entire generation of students. We must do better – our shared future depends on it.